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Wednesday, 4 February 2015

The Sludgelord News: POISON IDEA CONFIRM APRIL RELEASE DATE FOR THEIR BRAND NEW LP, CONFUSE & CONQUER, TO BE RELEASED VIA SOUTHERN LORD, PLUS TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED

(Photo credit: Jason Charles)

Poison Idea, one of the most infamous and instantly recognisable names in hardcore punk, are to release their first new album since 2006’s Latest Will and Testament. Southern Lord, responsible for releasing the Poison Idea reissues in recent years, are the ones irresponsible enough to bring to you, Confuse & Conquer on 6 April - and we cannot wait!

Soaking up respect from generations of hardcore punks and dishing none out, the dastardly denizens of mid-pace punk shred are in trademark give-a-damn form on Confuse & Conquer. With longstanding members Jerry A (vocals), Eric ‘The Vegetable’ Olsen (guitar) and Chris ‘Spider’ Carey (bass) alloyed by the fresh faces of Nathan ‘Skinny’ Richardson (drums) and Brandon Bentley (guitar), Poison Idea’s brand new full-length proves itself both recognisable and rewarding to listeners who have encountered them at any point from their 1980 birth onwards. Inventive beyond its steadfast roots, yet altogether as blunt as a stagediver’s knee hurtling towards your head, Confuse & Conquer sees the band, keen to waste not a single second more on non-music activities, riding high on this wave of creativity. Their forceful hardcore pummel is underwritten with dark humour, rage, disdain, and moments of real melancholy - well beyond the usual remit of the genre, but it’s to be expected of Portland’s nihilistic champions, proudly unaligned with any other sound out there. They were there at the beginning and they’ll be there at the end, and in the meantime they have a lot more punk rock left to produce.

Confuse & Conquer was recorded in their hometown by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust) and mastered by Brad Boatright (From Ashes Rise) at Audiosiege over the closing few months of 2014, and it shall see release via Southern Lord on 6 April as CD/LP and digital. In addition to the release of the brand new album, expanded reissues of War All The Time, Feel The Darkness and more are also in the works for the coming years. Meanwhile, Poison Idea have tours planned on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as a whole host of other happenings yet to be announced. Check out the recently announced European tour dates below:

EUROPEAN TOUR DATES 2015

17.04.2015 GER-Kiel, Schaubude

18.04.2015 DEN-Aalboorg, 1000Fryd

19.04.2015 GER-Hamburg, Hafenklang

20.04.2015 NED-Tilburg, Little Devil

21.04.2015 NED-Arnhem, Willemeen

22.04.2015 GER-Frankfurt, AU

23.04.2015 GER-Hannover, Chez Heinz

24.04.2015 GER-Berlin, Wild At Heart

25.04.2015 POL-Lodz, Luka

27.04.2015 GER-Regensburg, Alte Mälzerei

28.04.2015 CZE-Prague, Exit Us,

29.04.2015 AUS-Graz, Explosiv

30.04.2015 AUS-Vienna, Arena

01.05.2015 SLO-Ormoz, Unterhund

02.05.2015 ITA-Poviglio, Kaleidos

03.05.2015 ITA-Rome Traffic Club

04.05.2015 ITA-Torino, Border

05.05.2015 AUS-Bregenz, Between

06.05.2015 FRA-Paris, Mecanique Ondulatoire

07.05.2015 UK-London, Borderline

08.05.2015 UK-Nottingham, The Doghouse

09.05.2015 UK-Gateshead, The Black Bull

10.05.2015 UK-Glasgow, Audio

11.05.2015 UK-Manchester, Star & Garter

12.05.2015 UK-Birmingham, Adam And Eve Pub

13.05.2015 UK-Bristol, The Exchange

14.05.2015 UK-Norwich, The Owl Sanctuary

15.05.2015 BEL-Antwerp, Het Bos

16.05.2015 GER-Cologne, MTC

“What can I say? We're all happy with the record,” reported Jerry A., on the completion of Confuse & Conquer. “It's a group effort; we all had a part in writing the songs. We've been screwing around for too long. We had to hang back and see whose heart was really in this thing we've been doing for thirty years and who was bullshitting. We have a lot of touring to do next year, to make up for the last one being cancelled due to people with the wrong priorities. Everybody in the band now lives to play and make music; that comes first. It always has, it just took a long time to filter out the flakes, and keep the diehards. So these guys know how to make this ship float. As far as I'm concerned, it feels like being reborn, having a second wind, a hardcore revival, and just discovering meaning, all at the same time. To put it mildly, we're happy, I'm happy, and this is just the start. No stopping from here out.”

Issues Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson on the signing and upcoming album: "I’ve been a rabid Poison Idea fiend ever since seeing them decimate the legendary GorillaGardens in Seattle in 1985. Having the opportunity to work with this legendary band all these years later is an inexplicable honor."

Formed in 1980, Poison Idea became a household name in the hardcore/punk scenes early in their career, and are known as one of the most notoriously in-your-face acts in the American musical underworld, with an enraged, high-energy live set even more rambunctious than the massive roster of singles, EPs, full-length studio and live releases and more, across a realm of labels including Pusmort, Alchemy, American Leather, Bitzcore, Tim/Kerr, Taang!, Farewell, TKO, Southern Lord, Candlelight, and their own Fatal Erection. They’ve been an incredibly influential act to major performers including Nirvana, Pantera, Napalm Death, Machine Head, Eyehategod, Emperor, Turbonegro and an endless list of others.

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